Understanding the Context of Nursing Care for People with Dementia in Hospital: Enabling Adoption of Interventions to Improve Care |
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Being admitted to hospital can be upsetting and difficult for people living with dementia and has been associated with negative outcomes such as longer length of stay, increased likelihood of admission to nursing homes, an increased risk of death and risk of conditions such as urinary tract infections, dehydration, pneumonia and delirium. Nursing care is central to a positive hospitalization experience for people with dementia. There is an increasing interest in improving nursing care for people with dementia in hospital through developing, implementing and evaluating nursing interventions. The aim of this research was to better understand the context of the hospital environment in relation to nursing care of people with dementia. This project had multiple parts:
- a mixed methods review of the literature focusing on nursing interventions that aim to improve the care of people with dementia in the hospital. (link to article on Publications page)
- interviews with people with dementia who have had recent hospitalizations and their caregivers describing their experiences with hospital care. (link to article with results on Publications page)
- Interviews and focus groups with hospital staff and leaders on caring for people with dementia in the hospital, including what works and barriers to care.
- a review of the interview data relating to how activity needs of people living with dementia while in the hospital (preparing for publication)
Flipping Stigma |
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The goal of this project was to address stigma in the context of primary care and make the Flipping Stigma toolkit useful for primary care providers. Guided by a steering group that includes people with dementia, doctors, and nurses from BC, Alberta and Nova Scotia, we planned a cross-Canada online forum to learn how the toolkit should be adapted so primary care providers can explore and gain confidence about how to work more effectively with their patients who have dementia.
Intersections in Aging; Equitable, Inclusive, and Accessible Approaches to Collaborative Care to Older Adults |
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Open Educational Resources are free learning and teaching resources hosted on publicly accessible databases. This OER is hosted on Creative Commons (link provided on separate page). The aims of this Open Educational Resource (OER) project were to provide learning resources that will help to address equity concerns in health care with older adults by fostering student/practitioner awareness, confidence and capacities in providing collaborative gerontological care from an EDIA (equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility) standpoint. These resources will also be available for use across disciplines within the postsecondary context, as well as for professional development purposes for practitioners in healthcare settings – including professional contexts where student training and mentorship frequently takes place.
Primary Healthcare for People with Dementia: Exploring Care Provided by Collaborative Family Practice Teams in Nova Scotia |
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Collaborative models of primary health care are positioned to meet the complex health and social needs of those diagnosed with dementia through providing integrated, person-centred care by a team of two or more interdisciplinary professionals. While the Nova Scotia Dementia Strategy supports collaborative models of PHC for people with dementia in the form of Collaborative Family Practice Teams (CFPTs), there remains a dearth of specific frameworks for providing dementia care or primary care for persons with dementia through either CFPTs or alternative PHC providers. As a result, this research sought to examine not only how Nova Scotia is currently filling the care gaps left by a lack of dementia specific regulations with more general accessibility focused frameworks of care, but also to suggest what an ideal dementia care framework may look like if adopted in the future, based on the existing literature supporting CFPTs and dementia care. This project included a survey of current CFPT in Nova Scotia.
The effectiveness of alternatives to residential care for older people with on-going health and social care needs |
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This project was conducted in partnership with the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance. Together with a citizen partner, we are completed a review of published academic articles to explore the effectiveness of current programs aimed to keep older adults with multiple health and social care needs at home. Older adults are more likely to have ongoing health conditions (diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for example), and functional limitations (such as mobility or cognitive changes). These often lead to the need for formal care, which is typically provided by nursing homes. However, there are programs that combine supports and services in the community to address these needs of older people allowing them to remain in their homes. The results showed effectiveness in the direction of the interventions, however, not statistically significant. (submitted for publication)